IVORY

Zurich: Ivory Coast and Australia both leapt up the FIFA rankings after winning the African Nations Cup and Asian Cup respectively, while tiny Equatorial Guinea moved into the top 50 for the first time.
Equatorial Guinea, who hosted the Nations Cup, leapt 69 places and are joint 49th with Congo after...

Bata: Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry saved the day, and then he scored the winner. The 35-year-old veteran blocked a penalty attempt from opposing goalkeeper Razak Braimah and then stepped up to convert his own to give the Ivory Coast a 9-8 shootout win over Ghana on Sunday in the...

LAGOS: Yaya Toure was named African Footballer of the Year for a record fourth straight time at the annual Confederation of African Football awards on Thursday.
The Ivory Coast midfielder joins Samuel Eto'o as the only players to win the continent's top individual award four times but only Toure has done...

Violent scenes greeted Ivory Coast's qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday evening.
Fans entered the pitch on the final whistle and a group of them them pulled down the crossbar and few of them attempted to steal striker Gervinho's shorts.
Ivory Coast are assured of their qualification for...

Nigeria won't get the chance to defend their title at the African Cup of Nations next year after drawing 2-2 at home to South Africa on Wednesday to miss out on the finals on the last day of qualifying.
Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali left it late, but managed to qualify...

Cameroon threw off their dreadful World Cup performance to beat starstudded Ivory Coast 41 in African Cup of Nations qualifying on Wednesday.
Forwards Clinton N'Jie and Vincent Aboubakar scored a double each as Cameroon moved on from the retirement of striker Samuel Eto'o to overpower the Ivorians and take a second...

Ivory Coast began a new era without the talismanic Didier Drogba on Saturday, defeating Sierra Leone 21 in their opening African Nations Cup qualifier.
The hosts came from behind to beat their west African rivals who were severely affected by the Ebola virus outbreak in the leadup to the game, with...

London: Didier Drogba has announced his retirement from international football after 12 years playing for the Ivory Coast.
The 36yearold striker made more than 100 appearances for the Ivorians and played in three World Cups, most recently in Brazil this summer. He also played in two editions of the African Cup...

Four Frenchmen, including former international Luis Fernandez, have been named on a shortlist of five prospective candidates to take over as national coach of the Ivory Coast, the country's football federation said.
Francis Gillot, Frederic Antonetti, Herve Renard and Fernandez are joined on the shortlist by Manuel Jose, the Portuguese coach...

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure believes nobody cared about the Elephants being knocked out of the World Cup due to refereeing mistakes because they are African.
"I desperately wanted the referee to spot Samaras's simulation," he wrote in his weekly column in France Football, referring to Ivory Coast's 21 defeat by...

Fortaleza: Georgios Samaras scored an injurytime penalty to put Greece into the second round of the World Cup with a 21 win over Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
Samaras was adjudged to have been tripped in the area by substitute Giovanni Sio, and calmly slotted in the spot kick for a win...

Catch all the Live updates from both the Group C matches as Japan look for missing spark against Colombia whereas Greece take on a resurgent Ivory Coast. (Scroll down for the Live Blog)
Coach Alberto Zaccheroni must urgently find a way to unlock Japan's attacking potential against alreadyqualified Colombia but...

It's Day Two of the inorout matches of the World Cup, with five teams competing for two places in the knockout stages.
Group D winds up in the two early fixtures, with Group C following later. Each pair of games is played simultaneously.
The highlight of the early matches is Italy's game...

It looked like the same sad old story at the World Cup for Africa, the continent which still hasn't quite done it on the big stage.
Africa has never had a semifinalist never mind a real contender for the title and initially appeared out of its depth again at...

Fortaleza: After a troubled start, the smiles are returning to West Africa at the World Cup.
Nigeria have earned their first victory after a stalemate with Iran, and Ghana held Germany to a 22 draw after losing to the United States. Now Ivory Coast are looking for a place in the...

Brasilia: Colombia scored twice in six minutes in a lively second half to beat Ivory Coast 21 at the World Cup on Thursday and move to the last16. James Rodriguez's powerful header from a corner in the 64th minute was quickly followed by a low finish by substitute Juan Quintero,...

Catch live updates from the Group C clash as Didier Drogba begins on the bench for Ivory Coast once again. (Scroll down for live blog/updates)
As two of world football's underachieving nations, Ivory Coast and Colombia will be desperate not to let slip a rare chance to qualify for the knockout...

Natal: The mustwin World Cup encounter between England and Uruguay could boil down to which team best targets Luis Suarez. Both former champions realize a loss Thursday could signal the end of their World Cup campaign after just two matches.
Uruguay, semifinalists in 2010, will be desperate to have Liverpool striker...

Brasilia: As two of world football's underachieving nations, Ivory Coast and Colombia will be desperate not to let slip a rare chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup when they meet in Brasilia on Thursday.
Both teams opened Group C with victories, meaning another in the Brazilian...

Brazil: Didier Drogba came off the bench to inspire Ivory Coast to a 21 comeback victory over Japan in a World Cup Group C match on Saturday.
Drogba, who had been carrying an injury, came on in the 62nd minute when his team was losing 10.
The talismanic striker's arrival immediately lifted...

Catch all the Live action from the second Group C match between Ivory Coast and Japan at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife. (Scroll down for the Live blog)
It's a contest of brawn and bravado against pace and finesse. The muscular Ivory Coast team could not be more different at first...

Asian champions Japan need to show the world how good they are and the best place to display their abilities is in Brazil, according to midfielder Shinji Kagawa.
The Blue Samurai won a record fourth Asian Cup in Qatar three years ago and were the first side to qualify for this...

Ivory Coast received a huge fillip ahead of the World Cup opener against Japan as marauding midfield presence Yaya Toure was passed fit to play by coach Sabri Lamouchi ahead of Saturday's Group C clash.
Toure, the threetimes African player of the year, had picked up a hamstring injury in April...

It's a contest of brawn and bravado against pace and finesse.
The muscular Ivory Coast team could not be more different at first glance from the compact Blue Samurai of Japan.
One thing the two teams meeting in Saturday's opening Group C match have in common: crowdpleasing flair that translates into goals.
Neither...

Sao Paulo: Drogba has given Ivory Coast an injury scare ahead of their World Cup Group C opener against Japan Saturday after leaving training early with a thigh injury.
The 36yearold limped off the pitch at the team's training base in Aguas de Lindoia, near Sao Paulo,on Wednesday after clashing with...

Didier Drogba will make his final bow for Ivory Coast at a major tournament in Brazil but the west African country hope a new generation of strikers can drive them past the first round at the World Cup finals.
The 36yearold Drogba has been a talismanic figure for his country, leading...